When middleweight slugger Nate Quarry (11-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) steps into the cage against Tim Credeur (12-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) on the main card of “UFC Fight Night 19: Diaz vs. Guillard” on Sept. 16, there will be a bit of an old-school feel to the contest.

But despite an apparent striking advantage on the feet and a potential jiu-jitsu deficiency, Quarry said he won’t be relying on any particular gameplan to earn a victory.

As the 37-year-old recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), “The Rock” will be relying on something completely different: old-man strength.

“As boxers age, they noticeably get slower, but we can develop old-man strength,” Quarry said. “That’s what I like to rely upon. We got those stringy, older muscles that just get stronger and stronger.

“You know when you used to try and shake your dad’s hand, and he would just crush it no matter what? That’s the kind of strength I’m working on now – that old-man strength.”

Credeur will enter the bout with a six-fight win streak, including a perfect 3-0 in the UFC. And while eight of Credeur’s career wins have come by submission, Quarry said he doesn’t believe his opponent will rely solely on taking him to the floor.

“[Credeur] has been so successful with everything he’s been doing, it wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to stand up for a little bit,” Quarry said. “He’s been getting some knockouts. He’s been wearing guys down using his length. I think he’s really doing all the things he needs to do to be successful in the UFC.

“He’s not just sticking with jiu-jitsu. He’s working on his stand-up. He’s got a great camp around him, so I’m looking forward to this being a great fight, and I’m one person that’s not saying he’s [one-dimensional]. I think he’s going to come out swinging hard and coming hard.”

For Quarry, five of his six wins have come by knockout or TKO. Now facing his third-straight submission specialist, Quarry said he feels comfortable in all aspects of the game.

“It really doesn’t matter to me,” Quarry said. “I’m just going to go in there and fight no matter what. That’s always been my best gameplan – just to go in there and fight. It used to be back in the day I didn’t know who I was fighting until I saw them across the ring, so I don’t get into that over-analyzing what this guy’s going to do and what his gameplan is.

“I’ll watch some tapes, and I’ll get a little feeling of what his tendencies are, but I know that especially seeing the guys coming from ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ their game changes so much just over the next couple months. Now they’ve got a career in it; they don’t have to work outside tending bar or bouncing or anything. Now they can just be a professional fighter, and you see their games just go through the roof.”

But don’t count Quarry among those fighters who feels it’s necessary to match skills with Creduer on the mat simply to prove a point.

“Oh, man, I got nothing to prove,” Quarry said. “I used to say that to people all the time. I don’t have anything to prove; I fight in a cage for a living. What else do I have to prove? I go in there, and it’s not a matter of, ‘I’m going to show the world what I can do.’ I’m here to win this fight, and I’ll win in any way possible.

“It’s funny, because when I first started fighting I won most of my fights with submissions. Then it just turned out as I made it into the UFC, all my wins other than my decision to Kalib Starnes have all been by knockout. You’re pretty much just what people thought of you last time.”

Instead, Quarry will rely on instincts and old-man strength to put an end to Credeur’s successful run. And with the middleweight picture a bit murky once you look past Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt, a few wins could put anyone into contention.

But “The Rock” is taking it just one day at a time.

“I’ll just have to wait and see,” Quarry said. “I try not to look past what’s right in front of me.”

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